Preliminary Draft of 2008 Democratic Platform - Strong Education Planks

On Thursday, Democratic platform committee members were provided a draft of the Democratic National Committee’s 2008 platform. Titled “Renewing America’s Promise” and broken out into four distinct sections, “Renewing the American Dream,” “Renewing American Leadership,” “Renewing the American Community,” and “Renewing American Democracy,” the platform is a strong counter to the current Bush administration policies and is drafted in the ‘hopeful of a better future’ format that has marked Senator Barack Obama’s stump speeches.

Declaring, “it is time for a change,” the party is committing itself to comprehensive immigration reforms as well as a strong and unequivocal support for Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion. In addition, the party insists it will not continue the intrusive Bush policing actions based on a post-9/11 world.

“We will restore our constitutional traditions, and recover our nation’s founding commitment to liberty under the law,” the draft platform states.

While the platform has a little something for everyone, it is the strong, broad approach to education, one that mixes support with accountability, that has us continuing to back Barack Obama’s candidacy for president of the United States.

Education Component
The section devoted to education can be found within the subsection, “Investing in American Competitiveness.” Focusing on a slogan of “A World Class Education for Every Child,” the platform planks include a focus on Pre-school, K-12 Public Schools, Higher Education and an overlap of education with Science, Technology and Innovation.

As a preamble, the Democrats focus on feedback received during platform hearings. Stating that “Americans know we can and should do better,” the platform states:

“In the 21st century, where the most valuable skill is knowledge, countries that out educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow. In the platform hearings, Americans made it clear that it is morally and economically unacceptable that our high-schoolers continue to score lower on math and science tests than most other students in the world and continue to drop-out at higher rates than their peers in other industrialized nations. We cannot accept the persistent achievement gap between minority and white students or the harmful disparities that exist between different schools within a state or even a district.”

Focusing on an inclusive philosophy, the platform goes on to state:

“The Democratic Party clearly believes that graduation from a quality public school and the opportunity to succeed in college must be the birthright of every child - not the privilege of the few. We must prepare all our students with the 21st century skills they need to succeed by progressing to a new era of mutual responsibility in education. We must set high standards for our children, but we must also hold ourselves accountable our schools, our teachers, our parents, business leaders, our community and our elected leaders. And we must come together, form partnerships, and commit to providing the resources and reforms necessary to help every child reach their full potential.”

Educational Promises
The Democrats note they need to “make quality, affordable early childhood care and education available to every American child from the day he or she is born.” Among the steps to ensure that pledge, the Democrats indicate the need for increases in funding both Head Start and Early Head Start as well as greater investment in high-quality Pre-K programming for children.

For the current K-12 program structure, the focus is on ensuring “that every student has a high-quality teacher and an effective principal.” Here the pledge involves the recruiting a new generation of teachers and principals and with a return commitment to that generation of educators that “if you commit your life to teaching, America will commit to paying for your college education.” The platform also contains broad statements regarding improving teacher quality through help and support against a backdrop of greater accountability. If a teacher is still underperforming after supports have been put in place, then “we should find a quick and fair way—consistent with due process—to put another teacher in that classroom.”

Another critical component for teacher improvement involves teacher pay and the concept of merit-based increases. “We will make an unprecedented national investment to teachers with better pay and better support to improve their skills, and their students’ learning. We’ll reward effective teachers who teach in underserved areas, take on added responsibilities like mentoring new teachers, or consistently excel in the classroom.”

In addition, the platform devotes time to the need to “fix the failures and broken promises of No Child Left Behind. We will end the practice of labeling a school and its students as failures and then throwing our hands up and walking away from them without having provided the resources and supports these students need.”

The platform also notes that improving education is not a function of public school personnel alone.

“We know that there is no program and no policy that can substitute for parents who are involved in their children’s education from day one – who make sure their children are in school on time, helps them with their homework, and attends those parent-teacher conferences; who are willing to turn off the TV once in awhile, put away the video games, and read to their children. Responsibility for our children’s education has to start at home. We have to set high standards for them, and spend time with them, and love them. We have to hold ourselves accountable.”

In the push at the highest levels of education, the post-secondary level, the Democrats add:

“We believe that our universities, community colleges, and other institutions of higher learning must foster among their graduates the skills needed to enhance economic competitiveness. We will work with institutions of higher learning to produce highly skilled graduates in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines who will become innovative workers prepared for the 21st century economy.”

Party planks here include the community college network and training programs that will help “the unemployed and under-employed to speed their transition into careers in high-demand occupations and emerging industries” and a continued commitment to grow workforce skills possible for non-traditional students. To facilitate a level playing field, there is a push to make college more affordable for the average American “by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit to ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free. In exchange for the credit, students will be expected to perform community service.”

Noting the brain power and capital at our institutions of higher education, the platform notes that higher education is a critical component of the “economic engines of today and tomorrow” and specifies the need to partner with these schools “to translate new ideas into innovative products, processes and services.”

A Shot Across the Bow
In addition, adding to the science and technology component, the Democrats cast a specific dispersion towards the most recent administration. Noting that “America has long led the world in innovation” the party clearly differentiates its push from that of the Bush years.

“This Administration’s hostility to science has taken a toll. At a time when technology helps shape our future, we devote a smaller and smaller share of our national resources to research and development. It is time again to lead.

“We will end the Bush Administration’s war on science, restore scientific integrity, and return to evidence-based decision-making. In sum, we will strengthen our system, treat science and technology as crucial investments, and use these forces to ensure a future of economic leadership, health well- being and national security.”

Something for Everyone
The platform offers some hope for everyone who feels that our country has been on an extremely negative path the past eight years. For us, it is the broad-based educational planks that have us supporting Obama.

The strong mix of accountability (the only successful aspect of the Bush administration’s education policy) matched with equal amounts of support (early childhood, investment in teacher quality, and a K-16 discussion) have us believing that the latest Democratic platform could actually serve to improve public education in our country.